


The Big Guy

by driverfever



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben's just a really big guy, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Idiots in Love, NOT a sexual innuendo, Size Difference, Star Wars Modern AU, even though it really sounds like one, or maybe a half of one, they share one brain cell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28307439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/driverfever/pseuds/driverfever
Summary: Ben is unfamiliar with holiday customs, and Rey's frequent references to "the big guy" bringing her gifts have him just a tad jealous. Both are stupid and in love. Hilarity ensues.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 15
Kudos: 92





	The Big Guy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vuas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vuas/gifts).



> This is just a fun little piece I decided to write after I couldn't get [this tweet](https://twitter.com/TheVuasLog/status/1342279332883005450?s=20) out of my head. This was a super quick write, like 2 hours beginning to end, so pardon any grammar errors or awkward spots. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

“Anyway, can't wait for the big guy to drop me off some presents!” Rey finished with a wink before laughing and turning back to the hopelessly terrible Christmas movie currently playing. Luckily, Ben didn't notice how bad it was, thanks to the distraction of Rey's “big guy.” 

What big guy? Who was this person that Rey allowed to bring her gifts? Did Ben know him? How tall _was_ he that she felt the need to describe him this way? Was she trying to show off? No, that didn't sound like Rey. She'd been talking about this mysterious man for weeks now, always describing the gifts she wanted him to bring her. Never a name, just “the big guy.” Ben was left with more questions than answers.

He tried for some answers the next morning at breakfast with Poe. Poe had known Rey forever, surely she would have told him about this man. He cut in during a lull in the conversation over eggs and hash browns. 

“Um... is there anybody in Rey's life? That she's... interested in?” Ben cringed at the abrupt change in conversation. It was not nearly as casual as he'd been envisioning. Poe coughed.

“Finally figured it out?” Poe's smirk had Ben clenching his fists under the table. This was his own fault, really. He could've told Rey long before now about his feelings for her, and then they wouldn't be in this mess. Poe had told him this many times. He couldn't blame him for finding the situation funny now.

“ _Who_? I don't even know his name! She just calls him “the big guy.” Who is this man?” Ben's voice came out near a growl, and he forced himself to take a deep breath. Giving in to his frustration wouldn't help. Poe coughed again.

“You mean you don't... _what_?” Poe went from smirking to looking lost in under three seconds, and Ben was more confused than ever. 

“The 'big guy' who's going to be bringing her presents. She keeps talking about all the things she hopes he's going to give her. That's literally all she ever calls him, I don't get it. Is that something she's into?” His voice was rising in pitch in frustration now, and he kept his fists clenched beneath the table. 

“Oh! Him!” Poe let out a bark of laughter before reining himself in and continuing. “Yeah, I don't know about the whole big thing. Maybe she is.” He shrugged at Ben as he continued eating. Ben let out a small noise of frustration and raised his arms in a helpless manner.

“I don't get it. What is it about _him_? I'm tall! If she wants someone big, clearly I can be that!” Poe smothered more laughter.

“Yeah man, you're right about that. Maybe she's used to you being around. Maybe you can give this guy a little... competition.” Ben was too busy making plans in his head to pay attention to Poe's snorting laughter. He nodded decisively. 

“Yes. I can do that. I can... be big.” He got up from the table, ignoring Poe's protests and requests for money as he left the cafe. 

Rey ran to the door to let Ben in for their weekly movie night, brushing flour from the cookies she was baking off her hands. She absolutely loved everything about Christmas, and she had become determined over the last few months to make Ben love it just as much. 

He hadn't grown up with many traditional Christmas festivities around, so she'd decided to remedy that. Thus, the weekly Christmas movie watch nights, the hundreds of cookies, the tree decorating she'd enlisted his help in earlier in the month. Tonight was _Elf_ , one of Rey's personal favorites. As usual, she held back her disbelief that he'd never seen any of these as the movie began. 

She always laughed at the early scenes. Buddy, dressed fully in felt, trying to navigate tiny buildings, miniature desks, and his very small father's lap. It was a level of ridiculousness than only Will Ferrell could pull off. She kept up a low running commentary, wondering at the logistics of filming the scenes, and how ginormous the set made Buddy look. 

What she couldn't figure out was the odd looks Ben kept giving her. The first time she laughed at the doorway Buddy was currently trying to squeeze through, Ben immediately turned to stare at her for several seconds before throwing his arm over the back of the couch and stretching out. She made sure to keep her breathing even as his arm lightly brushed the back of her shoulders.

When she commented on how much editing the scene with Buddy in his father's lap must have taken to get the size difference right, Ben abruptly stood up and stretched before looking over his shoulder at her. Rey tried valiantly to hide the blush she knew was trying to stain her cheeks. 

It was ridiculous, really, how attracted she was to Ben. She had been so since the first day she met him, but his quiet and distant demeanor convinced her she shouldn't take the chance of telling him how she felt. He'd never shown the slightest bit of interest in her, so she was resigned to being friends with the man she thought she might be slightly in love with. 

It was also ridiculous how massive he was, and how oblivious he appeared to be. He was constantly shoving his hands into his pockets, slouching his shoulders, folding himself into chairs and various furniture in a way that suggested he wished to take up less space than he required. She'd always hoped he'd eventually come out of that shell, be more relaxed and comfortable. It wasn't _entirely_ selfish, she told herself. It was mostly because she wanted him to be more confident in himself for his own sake. Yeah, that.

As it turned out, she should have been more careful about what she wished for. It appeared Ben was finally starting to come out of that shell. And based on her reaction to pathetically insignificant changes to the way he carried himself (he literally _stretched_ , for heaven's sake), she was not going to survive this. 

By the time Rey got her emotions under control, Ben had sat back down on the couch, this time with his knees spread and his arms crossed over his chest. She tried not to stare at his biceps and the way they bulged in his sleeves, or the amount of space he was now taking up on the couch. She tuned out the movie and focused on her breathing. 

The next morning began with Rey on the phone to Poe. She'd woken up to find a box under her Christmas tree with no identifying information other than a label that read “From: a big guy.” She'd immediately pulled out her phone and called Poe. 

“Explain to me again, but slower. I'm barely awake.” Poe slurred words confirmed his claim.

“There's a box. Under my tree. I've no idea where it came from, it just has a tag that says 'from a big guy.' Do you know about this?” She hated how high her voice got when she was worried about something. 

“What's in it?”

“I don't know, I didn't open it! It's in my house, how did it get in my house? It's creeping me out!” 

“Open it.” She could practically hear Poe shrug through the phone.

She tore off the wrapping paper and gasped at the cast iron cooking set she'd had her eye on. She didn't know whether to be excited or more weirded out.

“What is it? You still alive?” Poe's voice reminded Rey she was on the phone and she quickly picked it back up.

“It's a cooking set I've been wanting. I swear, someone's stalking me. Online or something. I looked at this on Amazon last week. It's the only way someone could've known.” She bit her lip. She was genuinely concerned at this point.

“I don't know, who cares? If you wanted it then keep it! Sounds like a good deal to me. I gotta go, I've got another call to make.” Poe hung up abruptly, leaving Rey staring at the gift in the middle of her living room. She supposed he was right. It was a beautiful set, after all. For now she wanted to try it out. She'd save the worrying about how someone broke into her living room for later. 

“You idiot.” The words were not what Ben was wanting to hear when he picked up his phone at 7:30 in the morning, but apparently it didn't matter what Ben wanted. 

“Poe? Is that you?” 

“You left a present _in her house_ , with no way to tell it was _from you_ , and you thought this would end well?”

“Uhhh...”

“Now she thinks she's got a stalker who broke into her house in the middle of the night to leave it.”

“Why would she think that? What about 'big guy?' I mean, I don't want her to think it's from him either, but wouldn't she assume it was?” 

“You idiot.”

“We established that.”

“Can you at least go over and tell her it was from you so she doesn't call the cops and I don't know, get you arrested from your fingerprints?”

Ben hung up without answering, immediately jumping out of bed and throwing on some sweats and, after a moment's thought, a tight-fitting white undershirt. He could blame it on the fact that he was wearing sweats and it was before 8:00 AM if she questioned it.

Rey answered her door with a bat in her hands. Ben stifled the urge to bury his face in his hands and walk back out. Instead he stepped inside and moved out of the way so Rey could shut and lock the door behind him.

“Um, Rey-”

“Oh my god, Ben, I'm glad you're here. I'm freaking out. I think someone was in my house last night-”

“Rey-”

“-and they left this box, and it was something I've been looking at getting-”

“Rey-”

“-and I don't know how they knew or who they are and-”

“REY!” She finally stopped and glanced up at him.

“It was, um, me.” He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, wishing to shrink to nothingness. Oh god, why did he wear the tight shirt? 

“Huh?” She looked as if she'd hit herself over the top of the head with the bat still in her hand.

“I left it. When I left last night. I put it under the tree while you weren't looking.” Total silence. “Look, I'm sorry, it was stupid-”

“It's not stupid, I love it. But why didn't you tell me? You could've just told me. What was with the tag? 'A big guy?'” Ben felt the blush creeping up his neck. Why, oh why, did he wear the tight shirt? This was stupid. Luckily Rey continued talking.

“Oh, wait, you meant _The_ big guy! I get it. Still, you should've just told me. Or put your name, too.” Ben was lost. 

“I... what? He's... not me. I just thought this other guy was- you know what, it's not important.” He was thoroughly done with this conversation, with the embarrassment, with the whole ordeal, really. 

“What other guy?” Rey looked lost too. Great.

“You know, the guy who you keep wanting to bring you presents. 'The big guy.'” There was a beat of silence before Rey started laughing. Not a light, easy laugh, either. No, absolutely losing it, bending over with her hands on her stomach laughing. She held up a hand to ask for a moment as she caught her breath long enough to speak, tears in her eyes.

“Oh my god, Ben, _Santa_. It's a nickname people use for Santa. The big guy. You know, fat, red suit, jolly. The big guy.” Ben wished for it to be thirty seconds ago when he thought he was at the height of embarrassment. 

“Oh.” Rey had recovered by now and was staring at him, head tilted to the side.

“Who did you think I was talking about?” He couldn't bring himself to look her in the face. 

“I don't know. I thought maybe you were seeing someone, or...” He trailed off, unwilling to continue speaking.

“Were... were you jealous?” Rey's voice was disbelieving. This just kept getting worse. He didn't answer, and apparently that was answer enough for Rey. 

“Why were you jealous, Ben?” She took a step toward him. He continued staring at the ground, wondering if he could burn a hole into the floor that he could then fall through.

“Ben.” Suddenly her hand was in his, and he snapped his head up to look at her. “Tell me if I should stop.” Ben swallowed as Rey leaned closer to him. Why on earth would he ever tell her to stop? His eyes closed as her lips touched his, and he leaned into her automatically. The kiss lasted no more than a few seconds, but Ben's head was spinning.

Rey pulled away, averting her eyes and trying to drop her hand to her side. Ben tightened his grip.

“Rey.” She smiled, and how was he to do anything but the same?

“What I don't get is how you think I could be dating someone and just call them 'the big guy.'” Ben and Rey were situated on her couch, mindlessly watching another dumb Hallmark Christmas movie. It turned out Rey had been skipping most of the cheesy romantic ones before. Ben was eternally grateful. Although who knows, maybe some bad Hallmark romance would have helped things along before he made an idiot of himself.

Ben mumbled a response, and Rey turned from where she was tucked against his side, her hand resting on his chest.

“What was that?” Her hand absentmindedly rubbing circles on his chest was distracting, but not enough so for him to get out of answering her. He sighed.

“I thought he was just someone really big.” Rey snorted at his answer.

“Why- wait. Oh my god, no. You can't be serious. Is that why you got all weird about stretching and all that last night?” He tried to hide his flaming face in her hair.

“I'm really big, too.” Rey's peals of laughter drowned out the movie for a solid minute. By the time she stopped, she'd managed to swing a leg over his lap and put her hands on his shoulders.

“Yes. You are.”


End file.
